Council President Reggie Copeland poses next to Mobile Mayor Sam Jones on Jan. 4, 2013, after Copeland was recognized with a Champion of Life honor during the Mayor's Luncheon featuring guest speaker, Larry the Cable Guy. The council will vote on a six-year deal Tuesday to keep the bowl game in Mobile. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com)

MOBILE, Alabama – The Mobile City Council will vote to keep
the GoDaddy.com Bowl around another six more years, two days after the 2013
version is played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium

The City Council votes Tuesday on a six-year contract with
Mobile Alabama Bowl Inc. to keep the bowl game from potentially leaving Mobile.

The proposed contract, which runs from 2014-2020, will cost
taxpayers $1.15 million annually, with the entire amount paid out by Nov. 1 of
each year.

"I think it's very important to the future of this bowl
game," Mayor Sam Jones said today before attending the Mayor's luncheon, an
annual gathering held during the weekend of the GoDaddy.com Bowl. "It's very
difficult to go out and solicit television deals and the teams (playing in the
annual bowl game) if you don't know you have a contract for the next year. It's
very essential."

Council members also appear pleased with the deal.

"The balance of the money goes back to us and we get the $1
million back in late January after the game is over with," Council President
Reggie Copeland said. "The motel people and the restaurants will benefit
greatly over the weekend."

Councilman John Williams said, if anything, he would like to
see the contract extended beyond 2020.

"It's been one of the best things that has happened to
Mobile with deals with private organizations," he said. "It's a model of what
we ought to do when it comes to investing. It's a good deal."

The proposed contract is an extension of a previous one
approved in 2006, when GMAC Financial Services sponsored the bowl. The game has
been played in Mobile since 1999.

City Attorney Larry Wettermark said the biggest change in
the contract is that instead of forwarding a $200,000 payment to Mobile Alabama
Bowl Inc. in March, the entire allotment will be due in November. He said the
annual city expenditure remains unchanged.

"Before, we fronted $200,000 in March ... that was done
initially to jump start them to get the initial bills out of the way when the
bowl game was first going on," Wettermark said. "They are stable enough to
defer the entire payment."

"It really puts us on the map around the country and around
the world," Silverstein said.

The extension vote also comes at a time when the city continues
to heavily subsidize the stadium the game is played in. The city's 2013 budget
contains $377,816 toward the operation of Ladd-Peebles Stadium, down from
$419,796 in 2012, or a 10 percent reduction after council members called for
cuts to private and non-profit group it does business with.

Randy Gould, president of the Mobile Area Lodging
Association and chairman of the Ladd-Peebles Stadium board of directors, said
the contract extension will help keep the stadium viable at a time when board
members will work on making upgrades such as adding a new video scoreboard.

"We're trying to raise money so it can be paid for," Gould
said about a scoreboard that could cost more than $1 million. "We are not going
to the city at this point (asking for assistance) toward that."

Gould said the bowl game will be a boost to hotel business
at a time of the year when the industry sees softer occupancy rates.

He is the general manager of the LaQuinta Inn & Suites
in Tillman's Corner, which is about 80 percent occupied this weekend. He said
the spillover business from downtown Mobile is a big boost following the
holiday season.

David Randel, president of the Mobile Bay Convention and
Visitors Bureau, said downtown hotels were at 90 percent occupancy for last
year's game, a significant boost over the 50 percent annual occupancy rate
average for the area.

But will the return of the Arkansas State Red Wolves to
Mobile one year after being in the same bowl game lead to apathy and a drop of
visitors to the area? Randel said he isn't so sure.

"If you're a fan, do you come back the same year after
(being in the game)?" he said. "We don't have any control who comes to this
game. On the positive side, if the fans had such a good time last year, they'll
be back again."